I have so far resisted the urge to buy a new cell phone, but recently the itch has turned more into a rash. But I wasn't going to rush into anything. The days of being sent electronic gadgets for free are long gone for me, but one thing I can say is even if something is free if it's crap, it's still crap (yes I mean you Sony Cybershot).
So after looking at what promotions my cell phone service provider was offering I was down to two choices. Either I could go the route of the iPhone 4G or I could go for the Samsung Galaxy S2. Here is how and why I made my final choice.
The first thing I did was Google "Samsung Galaxy S2 vs. iPhone 4G". Sure enough there were plenty of hits. Obviously other people were having the same dilemma. In the end it was this YouTube video that helped me decide.
I watched it twice to count the difference in time from switching the phone on to get going. I still have my old school HTC I bought six years ago and one thing I hate about it and have always hated is how long it takes for it to turn on. In this battle the Galaxy S2 beat the iPhone 4G by a whole 16 seconds. Thank you Bulgaria!
Now the Galaxy S2 had me intrigued. My friend recently purchased the Google Nexus S and was meeting another friend of ours who just got his Galaxy S2 so I asked him to compare the two and got to finding out more about this new Samsung offering.
Unlike Victoria Beckham I don't always think thinner is better, but after years of using my HTC (which is thicker than my home wireless phone), I like the thinness of the Galaxy S2. It's only slightly thinner than the iPhone though, but what makes it thinner, as the guy mentions in the clip above is the screen and the screen on the Galaxy S2 is pretty fantastic. It's slightly less bright and has more saturation to its colours, but in the end it's just easier to look at it. And the score is Samsung 2 iPhone 0.
A few more clips later and I just couldn't find a reason not to get the Samsung Galaxy S2. So I went looking for some reasons. Here's the nasty things that bothered me the most:
1. There may be a defect in the screen, though not on all models apparently and while the website says to report it to Samsung, it doesn't say whether or not Samsung will replace any phone with this problem, which means it's good idea to ask before buying.
2. As an iPod (does this make me old school yet?) user I'm worried about syncing my iTunes library. I found plenty of suggestions of third party apps, but there was no single app that seemed to work for everyone.
3. Speaking of apps, there are not as many apps for the Galaxy S2 as they are for the iPhone.
And that's it. Three reasons that can all be rationalised away in a way that won't make me feel as bad as when I rationalise that eating a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream in one sitting means I'm getting all that calcium all at once or that I'm supporting Vermont's dairy farmers. I'm sure I can sort out the iTunes thing. It might not be as easy as it would be on the iPhone but who am I kidding? I haven't bought music from iTunes since 2005.
Then of course there was the massive price difference. I can have through my provider a Samsung Galaxy S2 for 100,00 euros without having to change my current plan or pay anything extra whereas the iPhone 4's cheapest offering would cost me 234,00 euros. For 134,00 euros I could fill my Galaxy S2 with nifty apps and since they aren't that many yet I can use the money I save to buy shoes (you know, to support shoemakers in Italy). This is obviously a win-win.
I have to wait a few weeks since it's a birthday present and I've found no way (yet) to rationalise buying it sooner after having been on two expensive vacations in the past 5 months, but it will most definitely make its way into my impatient hands before August 21st if only because my current phone has reached an age where it has become incontinent (it drops calls), grumpy (I get bad reception even when I'm in a place where I once got good reception), and the battery life means I have to charge it every day if I talk on the phone or use the web for too long, which according to techie reviews of the iPhone 4 means I basically have all the problems I could have with an iPhone 4 but because my phone is 1,000 years old in tech years at least it has an excuse whereas the iPhone doesn't.
Sorry iPhone users but I'm sick of being called up by friends with iPhones that need tech support. I was almost tempted for a few weeks to change my voicemail message to: "You have reached a number where the mobile user doesn't want to help you debug, jailbreak, fix, or listen to you complain about your iPhone. Please check the number and then call someone else."
So after looking at what promotions my cell phone service provider was offering I was down to two choices. Either I could go the route of the iPhone 4G or I could go for the Samsung Galaxy S2. Here is how and why I made my final choice.
The first thing I did was Google "Samsung Galaxy S2 vs. iPhone 4G". Sure enough there were plenty of hits. Obviously other people were having the same dilemma. In the end it was this YouTube video that helped me decide.
I watched it twice to count the difference in time from switching the phone on to get going. I still have my old school HTC I bought six years ago and one thing I hate about it and have always hated is how long it takes for it to turn on. In this battle the Galaxy S2 beat the iPhone 4G by a whole 16 seconds. Thank you Bulgaria!
Now the Galaxy S2 had me intrigued. My friend recently purchased the Google Nexus S and was meeting another friend of ours who just got his Galaxy S2 so I asked him to compare the two and got to finding out more about this new Samsung offering.
Unlike Victoria Beckham I don't always think thinner is better, but after years of using my HTC (which is thicker than my home wireless phone), I like the thinness of the Galaxy S2. It's only slightly thinner than the iPhone though, but what makes it thinner, as the guy mentions in the clip above is the screen and the screen on the Galaxy S2 is pretty fantastic. It's slightly less bright and has more saturation to its colours, but in the end it's just easier to look at it. And the score is Samsung 2 iPhone 0.
A few more clips later and I just couldn't find a reason not to get the Samsung Galaxy S2. So I went looking for some reasons. Here's the nasty things that bothered me the most:
1. There may be a defect in the screen, though not on all models apparently and while the website says to report it to Samsung, it doesn't say whether or not Samsung will replace any phone with this problem, which means it's good idea to ask before buying.
2. As an iPod (does this make me old school yet?) user I'm worried about syncing my iTunes library. I found plenty of suggestions of third party apps, but there was no single app that seemed to work for everyone.
3. Speaking of apps, there are not as many apps for the Galaxy S2 as they are for the iPhone.
And that's it. Three reasons that can all be rationalised away in a way that won't make me feel as bad as when I rationalise that eating a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream in one sitting means I'm getting all that calcium all at once or that I'm supporting Vermont's dairy farmers. I'm sure I can sort out the iTunes thing. It might not be as easy as it would be on the iPhone but who am I kidding? I haven't bought music from iTunes since 2005.
Then of course there was the massive price difference. I can have through my provider a Samsung Galaxy S2 for 100,00 euros without having to change my current plan or pay anything extra whereas the iPhone 4's cheapest offering would cost me 234,00 euros. For 134,00 euros I could fill my Galaxy S2 with nifty apps and since they aren't that many yet I can use the money I save to buy shoes (you know, to support shoemakers in Italy). This is obviously a win-win.
I have to wait a few weeks since it's a birthday present and I've found no way (yet) to rationalise buying it sooner after having been on two expensive vacations in the past 5 months, but it will most definitely make its way into my impatient hands before August 21st if only because my current phone has reached an age where it has become incontinent (it drops calls), grumpy (I get bad reception even when I'm in a place where I once got good reception), and the battery life means I have to charge it every day if I talk on the phone or use the web for too long, which according to techie reviews of the iPhone 4 means I basically have all the problems I could have with an iPhone 4 but because my phone is 1,000 years old in tech years at least it has an excuse whereas the iPhone doesn't.
Sorry iPhone users but I'm sick of being called up by friends with iPhones that need tech support. I was almost tempted for a few weeks to change my voicemail message to: "You have reached a number where the mobile user doesn't want to help you debug, jailbreak, fix, or listen to you complain about your iPhone. Please check the number and then call someone else."
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| In the words of Garth "Oh yes you will be mine. You will be mine." |
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